The Passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967

​​Fifty years ago, Congress passed the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The bill came as a result of a study conducted by the Carnegie Corporation of New York which urged the creation of public broadcasting to combat the growing influence of commercial broadcasters on America’s airwaves. At the urging of President Johnson, the Senate took up the motion in late spring and quickly moved it through the Senate Commerce Committee, sending it to the House in May of 1967. However, it was in the House of Representatives that the bill became embattled in protracted and contentious hearings.

A photograph of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, taken in January 1967 for a feature story on the committee in the "Capitol Hill" magazine.

When the bill arrived in the House, the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce was busy working with the Johnson Administration to determine a solution to a major railroad strike that halted passenger and freight services in the summer of 1967. The hearing for the Public Broadcasting Act was delayed until a solution on the rail strike was met. Committee Chairman Harley O. Staggers scheduled the first hearing on the bill in late July.

Opponents to the bill strengthened their efforts to halt the measure from gaining House passage during this period. The first week of hearings in the House Commerce Committee were rife with charged testimonies regarding vague provisions in the Senate bill, the costs associated with the proposed Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the possibility of the public-funded news organization being used as a propaganda tool.

Florida Congressman Claude Pepper (left) converses with Dr. James Killian and H. Holt Riddleberger, supporters of the Public Broadcasting Act during Commerce Committee Hearings.

​By the end of the first week of hearings, two of these concerns had been addressed. The House version of the bill, sponsored by Chairman Staggers clarified areas of the Senate bill which were deemed too broad or undefined and with testimony from Congressman Claude Pepper (D-FL), concerns of potential propaganda were quelled. However, the concerns over the proposed Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s federal subsidy remained a critical issue in the hearings.

Committee members’ concerns were exacerbated by the consideration of several other pieces of legislation concerning the nation’s airwaves. These included the dominance of network television companies over local and nonprofit broadcasters, the question of whether broadcasters could charge for their content (Pay TV), and the effect of professional sports blackouts on the freedom of the airwaves.
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In an effort to appease opponents of the bill, Congressman Staggers urged the committee to more precisely define its funding provisions in order to allow for the establishment of the new corporation before further review. Many of the amendments applied by the House Committee addressed these fiscal concerns. As a result, the House version of the bill established funding levels for three fiscal years and made the Corporation for Public Broadcasting subject to reauthorization in the future. The bill also mandated a maximum percentage of federal appropriations to each state that could be applied to building the infrastructure to produce and broadcast educational programing through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

​The House of Representatives approved the bill on September 21, 1967 with a vote of 265 in support and 91 opposed. In a bipartisan effort, Congressman Staggers and the ranking member of the House Commerce Committee, Congressman William Springer (R-IL) with aid from Speaker of the House John McCormack (D-MA) successfully defeated two amendments aimed at eliminating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from the bill. At the conclusion of the vote, House Majority Leader Carl Albert (D-OK) commended the Commerce Committee and its chairman for their efforts to secure passage of the bill.

Ranking Member William Springer (left) and Chairman Harley Staggers of the House Commerce Committee.

​President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Broadcasting Act into law on November 7, 1967, declaring that “it will give a wider and, I think, stronger voice to educational radio and television by providing new funds for broadcast facilities. It will launch a major study of television's use in the Nation's classrooms and its potential use throughout the world. Finally — and most important — it builds a new institution: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act on November 7, 1967. Congressmen Staggers (third from left), Springer (fourth from left), and Senator John Pastore (fifth from left) are among those standing behind President Johnson. Senator Pastore and Congressman Staggers headed to conference committee which reconciled the House and Senate versions of the legislation.